Who’s Who in Defense: Mark Milley, Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff
Part of a special Breaking Defense reference series profiling key defense decision-makers in the new administration and Congress.
By Catherine Macaulay on March 26, 2021 at 3:21 PM
The 20th Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS)
Responsibilities
The highest-ranking military officer in America, Milley acts as the principal military advisor to the President, Secretary of Defense, and National Security Council. As chairman of the JCS, which comprises the top eight military officials in the country, Milley is the conduit between the executive branch and the military chiefs. He exercises no military authority over combatant forces.
Key Focus Areas
Improve joint warfighting readiness, develop the Joint Force of the future and empower Joint Force leaders.
Re-examine how troops are stationed in allied countries at risk of armed conflict, like South Korea and in the Persian Gulf. Envisions rotating troops rather than maintaining permanent assignments overseas, not including Afghanistan and Iraq, calling the current, decades-old strategy a “derivative†of WWII era policies.
Keep pace with the rapidly changing geopolitical environment and also with emerging technologies, threats from cyberattacks, disinformation, pandemics, a marked rise in global urbanization, and China’s economic dominance.
https://breakingdefense.com/2021/03/whos-who-in-defense-mark-milley-chairman-joint-chiefs-of-staff/
